LINCOLN TOWN CAR 2001 Owners Manual

INTERIOR LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT RELEASE
Your vehicle is equipped with a mechanical interior luggage compartment
release handle that provides a means of escape for children and adults in
the event they become locked inside the luggage compartment.
Adults are advised to familiarize themselves with the operation and
location of the release handle.
To open the luggage compartment
door (lid) from the inside, pull the
illuminated ªTº shaped handle and
push up on the trunk lid. The
material that the handle is made of
will glow for hours in the darkness
of the luggage compartment
following brief exposure to ambient
light.
The ªTº shaped handle will be
located either on the luggage
compartment door (lid) or inside
the luggage compartment near the
tail lamps.
Keep vehicle doors and
luggage compartment locked
and keep keys out of a child's
reach. Unsupervised children could
lock themselves in an open trunk
and risk injury. Children should be
taught not to play in vehicles.
On hot days, the temperature in the trunk or vehicle interior can
rise very quickly. Exposure of people or animals to these high
temperatures for even a short time can cause death or serious
heat-related injuries, including brain damage. Small children are
particularly at risk.
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SEATING
Head restraints
Your vehicle's seats may be equipped with head restraints which are
vertically adjustable. The purpose of these head restraints is to help limit
head motion in the event of a rear collision. To properly adjust your head
restraints, lift the head restraint so that it is located directly behind your
head or as close to that position as possible. Refer to the following to
raise and lower the head restraints.
Push or pull the head rests to the
desired position.
Adjusting the power front seats ± door mounted controls
The controls for the power seats are located on the inside of each front
door.
Never adjust the driver's seat or seatback when the vehicle is
moving.
Do not pile cargo higher than the seatbacks to avoid injuring
people in a collision or sudden stop.
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
Reclining the seatback can reduce the effectiveness of the seat's
safety belt in the event of a collision.
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Press the control to recline the
seatback forward or backward.
Press to move the seat forward or
backward.
Press to move the front portion of
the seat cushion up or down.
Press to move the rear portion of
the seat cushion up or down.
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Heated seats (if equipped)
The heated seat controls are located on the door trim panel.
To operate the heated seats:
²Slide the control to BACK to heat
the seatback only.
²Slide the control to BOTH to heat
the seatback and the seat
cushion.
²Rotate the thumbwheel to select
the desired heat (from 0 (OFF)
to 5 (HI)). Allow five minutes for
the heat level to stabilize.
If the heated seat switch is not
turned OFF, the seat will heat up to
the selected temperature level each
time the vehicle is started.
Rear heated seats (if equipped)
The rear seat heat controls are located on the rear door panels and
operate like the front heated seats. Refer to theHeated Seatssection in
this chapter for instructions on operating the rear heated seats.
Using the power lumbar support (if equipped)
The power lumbar control is located
on the outboard side of the seat.
Press one side of the control to
adjust firmness.
Press the other side of the control
to adjust softness.
BACK
BOTH
O
HI
OFF
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Using the manual recline function (if equipped)
Never adjust the driver's seat or seatback when the vehicle is
moving.
Do not pile cargo higher than the seatbacks to avoid injuring
people in a collision or sudden stop.
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
Reclining the seatback can reduce the effectiveness of the seat's
safety belt in the event of a collision.
To adjust the front seatback using
the manual recliner:
²Lift and hold the handle located
on the side of the seat.
²Lean against the seatback to
adjust it to your desired position.
You can recline the seat back or
bring it forward.
²Release the handle when the desired position has been reached.
Easy access/easy out feature (if equipped)
This feature automatically moves the driver's seat backward when:
²the transmission is in N (Neutral) or P (Park)
²the key is removed from the ignition cylinder
The seat will move 5 cm (2 inches) forward (to the original position)
when:
²the transmission is in N (Neutral) or P (Park)
²the key is placed in the ignition cylinder
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Memory seats/rearview mirrors/adjustable pedals (if equipped)
This system allows automatic
positioning of the driver seat,
outside rearview mirrors, and
adjustable pedals to three
programmable positions.
The memory seat control is located on the driver door.
²To program position one, move the driver seat to the desired position
using the seat controls. Press the SET control. The SET control
indicator light will briefly illuminate. While the light is illuminated,
press control 1.
²
To program position two, repeat the previous procedure using control 2.
²To program position three, repeat the previous procedure but press
controls 1 and 2 simultaneously.
A position can only be recalled when the transmission gearshift is in
Park. A memory seat position may be programmed at any time.
The memory seat positions are also recalled when you press your remote
entry transmitter UNLOCK control.
To program the memory seat to remote entry transmitter, refer to
Remote entry systemin theControls and features chapter.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Personal Safety System
The Personal Safety System provides an improved overall level of frontal
crash protection to front seat occupants and is designed to help further
reduce the risk of air bag-related injuries. The system is able to analyze
different occupant conditions and crash severity before activating the
appropriate safety devices to help better protect a range of occupants in
a variety of frontal crash situations.
Your vehicle's Personal Safety System consists of:
²Driver and passenger dual-stage air bag supplemental restraints.
²Front safety belts with pretensioners, energy management retractors,
and safety belt usage sensors.
²Driver's seat position sensor.
²Passenger occupant classification sensor (if equipped).
SET
12
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²Front crash severity sensor.
²Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors.
²Restraint system warning light and back-up tone.
²The electrical wiring for the air bags, crash sensor(s), safety belt
pretensioners, front safety belt usage sensors, driver seat position
sensor, passenger occupant classification sensor (if equipped), and
indicator lights.
How does the personal safety system work?
The Personal Safety System can adapt the deployment strategy of your
vehicle's safety devices according to crash severity and occupant
conditions. A collection of crash and occupant sensors provides
information to the Restraints Control Module (RCM). During a crash, the
RCM activates the safety belt pretensioners and/or either one or both
stages of the dual-stage air bag supplemental restraints based on crash
severity and occupant conditions.
The fact that the pretensioners or air bags did not activate for both front
seat occupants in a collision does not mean that something is wrong with
the system. Rather, it means the Personal Safety System determined the
accident conditions (crash severity, belt usage, etc.) were not
appropriate to activate these safety devices. Front air bags and
pretensioners are designed to activate only in frontal and near-frontal
collisions, not rollovers, side-impacts, or rear-impacts unless the collision
causes sufficient longitudinal deceleration.
Driver and passenger dual-stage air bag supplemental restraints
The dual-stage air bags offer the capability to tailor the level of air bag
inflation energy. A lower, less forceful energy level is provided for more
common, moderate-severity impacts. A higher energy level is used for
the most severe impacts. Refer toAir bag Supplemental Restraints
section in this chapter.
Front crash severity sensor
The front crash severity sensor enhances the ability to detect the
severity of an impact. Positioned up front, it provides valuable
information early in the crash event on the severity of the impact. This
allows your Personal Safety System to distinguish between different
levels of crash severity and modify the deployment strategy of the
dual-stage air bags and safety belt pretensioners.
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Driver's seat position sensor
The driver's seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety System to
tailor the deployment level of the driver dual-stage air bag based on seat
position. The system is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting
close to the driver air bag by providing a lower air bag output level.
Passenger occupant classification sensor (OCS) (if equipped)
If your vehicle is equipped with this feature, there will be a label located
under the front passenger seat which is marked ªOCSº. Alternatively, you
may take your vehicle to any Ford or Lincoln Mercury dealer for
assistance.
For air bags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the air bag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, like infants
in rear-facing child seats, this occurs because they are initially sitting
very close to the air bag. For other occupants, this occurs when the
occupant is not properly restrained by seat belts or child safety seats and
they move forward during pre-crash braking. The most effective way to
reduce the risk of unnecessary injuries is to make sure all occupants are
properly restrained. Accident statistics suggest that children are much
safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the
front.
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.NEVERplace a
rear-facing child seat in front of an active air bag. If you must
use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the seat all the
way back.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
The passenger occupant classification sensor can automatically turn off
the passenger front air bag and side air bag (if equipped). The system is
designed to help protect small (child size) occupants from air bag
deployments when they are improperly seated or restrained in the front
passenger seat contrary to proper child-seating or restraint usage
recommendations. Even with this technology, parents areSTRONGLY
encouraged to always properly restrain children in the rear seat. The
sensor also turns off the air bag(s) when the passenger seat is empty to
prevent unnecessary replacement of the air bag(s) after a collision.
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Front safety belt usage sensors
The front safety belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. This information
allows your Personal Safety System to tailor the air bag deployment and
safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
Refer toSafety Beltsection in this chapter.
Front safety belt pretensioners
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to tighten the safety belts
firmly against the occupant's body during a collision. This maximizes the
effectiveness of the safety belts and helps properly position the occupant
relative to the air bag to improve protection. The safety belt
pretensioners can be either activated alone or, if the collision is of
sufficient severity, together with the air bags.
Front safety belt energy management retractors
The front safety belt energy management retractors allow webbing to be
pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled manner in
response to the occupant's forward momentum. This helps reduce the
risk of force-related injuries to the occupant's chest by limiting the load
on the occupant. Refer toSafety Beltsection in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety System is operational
The Personal Safety System uses a warning light in the instrument
cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to theWarning Lightsection in theInstrument Clusterchapter.
Routine maintenance of the Personal Safety System is not required.
The Restraints Control Module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the air bag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, driver seat
position sensor, and passenger occupant classification sensor (if
equipped). In addition, the RCM also monitors the restraints warning
light in the instrument cluster. A difficulty with the system is indicated
by one or more of the following.
²The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
²The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
²A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
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If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System serviced at your dealership or by a qualified technician
immediately. Unless serviced, the system may not function properly in
the event of a collision.
Safety restraints precautions
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit where they
can be properly restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the
vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from
injury in a collision.
All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag SRS is
provided.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or
outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in these areas
are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to
ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and
safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a
safety belt properly.
In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely
to die than a person wearing a safety belt.
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